Whitley County reports sixth COVID-19 death Friday within a five-day period

For the third time this week, the Whitley County Health Department announced a new COVID-19 death Friday, which marks the sixth death in the last five days.

On Monday, the Whitley County Health Department announced four COVID-19 deaths, and on Thursday one additional death was announced.

So far, the Whitley County Health Department has reported a total of 10 COVID-19 deaths.

The Whitley County Health Department reported 22 new COVID-19 cases Friday, 15 new cases Thursday, four new cases Wednesday, 19 new cases Tuesday, 24 new cases Monday, 12 new cases Sunday, and four new cases Saturday.

Whitley County has had a total of 709 COVID-19 cases.

Whitley County has 191 active cases, and 508 cases have been released from isolation.

Out of the 709 Whitley County cases, 56 patients were under the age of 18, 70 patients were ages 18-20, 123 patients were ages 21-30, 90 patients were ages 31-40, 94 patients were ages 41-50, 88 patients were ages 51-60, 65 patients were ages 61-70, 61 patients were age 71-80, and 62 patients were over age 80.

Whitley County’s COVID–19 current case incidence rate is 34.3, which places it in the red category.

A county with a COVID-19 rate over 25 cases per 100,000 people is considered critical, which is signified on the state map with the color red. A county with a rate between 10-25 cases per 100,000 people is considered accelerated and is shown as orange on the state map. A county with 1-10 cases per 100,000 people is considered to have community spread and is signified on the state map with the color yellow. A county with less than one case per 100,000 people is considered on track and is signified by the color green on the state map.

The incidence rate for each county may be found online at www.kycovid19.com.

Knox County

The Knox County Health Department reported 19 new COVID-19 cases Friday, including one child.

“We have been notified that four of these cases are from a congregated setting. We encourage all community members to remember to use proper preventative measures at all times,” the Knox County Health Department wrote in a release.

The Knox County Health Department reported 10 new cases Thursday, 31 new cases Wednesday, five new cases Tuesday, and 34 new cases Monday.

Knox County has had a total of 721 COVID-19 cases, including 168 active cases.

Knox County has had a total of 14 COVID-19 deaths.

Knox County’s COVID–19 current incidence rate is 52.7 placing it in the red category.

Only Union County at 57.6 and Fulton County at 55.0 had a higher incidence rate in Kentucky than Knox County on Friday.

Laurel County

The Laurel County Health Department reported 15 new COVID-19 cases Friday, none of which are hospitalized or that came from within a congregate setting.

Friday’s new cases include: a 16-year-old male, a 51-year-old male, a 33-year-old male, a 71-year-old female, a 35-year-old female, a 23-year-old male, a 37-year-old female, a 46-year-old male, a 66-year-old female, a 50-year-old female, a 24-year-old male, a 15-year-old female, a 68-year-old male, a 65-year-old female, and a 54-year-old female.

The Laurel County Health Department also reported 16 new cases Thursday, 14 new cases Wednesday, 12 new cases Tuesday, 15 new cases Monday, eight new cases Sunday, and 16 new cases Saturday.

The Laurel County Health Department has reported a total of 1,172 COVID-19 cases, including: 794 recovered cases, and 368 active cases, of which 13 are currently hospitalized. A total of 87 of the active cases occurred within congregate settings.

Laurel County has reported 10 COVID-19-related deaths with the two most recent deaths being reported on Oct. 13.

Out of the 1,172 Laurel County cases, 130 patients were under the age of 18, 225 patients were ages 18-30, 186 patients were ages 31-40, 159 patients were ages 41-50, 168 patients were ages 51-60, 145 patients were ages 61-70, 101 patients were ages 71-80 and 58 patients were over age 80.

A total of 19,915 COVID-19 tests had been performed in Laurel County as of Oct. 12.

Laurel County’s COVID–19 incidence rate Friday is 21.4, placing it in the orange category.

Bell County

The Bell County Health Department reported four new COVID-19 cases Friday, 11 new cases Thursday, 10 new cases Wednesday, four new cases Tuesday, eight new cases Monday, six new cases Sunday, and three new cases Saturday.

Bell County has had a total of 587 COVID-19 cases with one person currently hospitalized, which is a 62-year-old male.

Bell County currently has 47 active cases.

Bell County has reported a total of 21 COVID-19 deaths, which have all ranged in age from 62-97. The most recent death was reported on Oct. 15.

Bell County’s COVID–19 incidence rate is 27.4 placing it in the red category.

McCreary County

The Lake Cumberland District Health Department has reported a total of 238 COVID-19 cases in McCreary County as of Oct. 15.

Currently there are 24 active McCreary County cases, which are all in self-isolation. A total of 213 McCreary County cases are classified as not contagious, and there has been one McCreary County COVID-19 fatality.

McCreary County’s COVID–19 incidence rate Friday is 11.6 placing it in the orange category.

Statewide cases

On Friday, Gov. Andy Beshear reported 1,319 new COVID-19 cases, which includes 189 cases involving children ages 18 and under, and four new deaths.

“Our COVID report today adds to a tough week,” said Beshear. “We need to buckle down; we need to wear masks; we need to follow that rule of no gatherings above 10 people at our homes. We need to social distance and we shouldn’t play politics with this virus. It is real. It doesn’t matter if there’s an election a couple of weeks away.”

Statewide there have been 85,506 positive cases of the COVID-19 virus in Kentucky, and 1,300 total deaths from the virus. A total of 1,773,349 coronavirus tests have been performed in Kentucky, and at least 17,018 people have reported that they have recovered, according to the latest information on the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s official COVID-19 website.